Methyl formate (MF) is a clear, colorless and volatile liquid having a boiling point of only 31.8.degree. C. It is used as an ingredient in fumigants, as a solvent and as intermediate in the manufacture of numerous organic chemicals and drugs. Though textbooks speak of the esterification of formic acid with methanol to make methyl formate, a more economical and therefore more widely used process involves the reaction of methanol with gaseous carbon monoxide in the presence of a sodium methoxide catalyst dissolved in methanol. Higher alkyl formates are prepared similarly or by transesterification with methyl formate.